Kagamine Mirrors
by KimaKoran
Summary: Rin relies on one thing to make her life interesting: her imagination. She believes she is useless, as that's how she's treated. This changes when she meets her new neighbor, a boy named Len. Where has she seen him before? And why is she drawn to him?
1. Chapter 1

Tears filled her eyes, and she quickly wiped them away, hoping that noone noticed her moment of weakness. A moment later the bell rang and after several seconds, she was gone, out in the school yard, climbing a cherry blossom tree. This tree, called Sakura, was her only friend in this huge, cursed school. Rin tried adapting to the lifestyle of people surrounding her, but all her attempts turned out wasted, since despite her hard work, nobody around wanted to accept her into their group. Screw cliques, the girl had trouble finding even one, single person, that would not act like Rin walked around the school with some horrible disease. As if that wasn't enough, all the students set themselves against her, and behaved like complete idiots: they wouldn't leave her in peace with their mean comments about her clothes, grades, job, or even her hair color. As if it was her fault, that she couldn't afford Gold Momotaro jeans. She also wasn't the best at schoolwork, and being a klutz didn't help her with getting any pleasant job either, which forced her to hop around from one place to another. Rin remembered when she first walked into the classroom in her blond pony tails. Constant whispering reached her ears, and Rin almost befriended a couple of girls, whose hair glistened with various colors, starting with reddish brown, and ending on light blue highlights. The girls' interest in her hair passed though, when they found out that the flashy yellow, which they fell in love with, was Rin's natural hair color, and the poor girl was incapable of sharing with them the name of the hair dye which would give them a similar effect. As if it was her fault, that her great-great-grandpa was European and genes decided to prove that in her generation. Both her parents looked very much Japanese. Same with her cousins, aunts, uncles, etc. But she had to be born with blond hair. When she was younger, kids, as well as adults, loved it. It wasn't a clear memory though, and Rin couldn't remember the day, when all this changed. When, exactly, did she become the laughingstock of the entire school?

Ah, yes. That's right. It happened on the same day that her mother took over the title of the school principal.

Rin was proud of her mom. The woman was a wonderful parent, as well as a teacher. Unfortunately, because of her sudden job change, Rin lost the trust of her "friends", who were convinced that her mom's position was the only reason for which a student as bad as Rin still wasn't expelled. _Maybe there's some truth in it_, Rin thought. _I'm bad at practically every subject, and if not for the fact that my mom works in this school, I wouldn't be here. _Such thoughts went through Rin's head while she sat, tired from the crying, in her Sakura, inside her white-and-pink palace. It was the only big tree around, but Rin recently convinced her mom to allow her to plant more of them around the school grounds. In several years, when Rin will be in college already, the students of Hanabira Koukou will be a part of a school, which finally grew up to serve its name (Hanabira = flower petals). Rin got enveloped by dreams, about an alley overgrown with Sakura trees, blooming with white and pink flowers. The alley led to a pair of huge doors, behind which a new, much brighter, and _friendlier_ school was built. With a smile on her face, Rin pushed the door. She expected to enter a room full of happy students, meeting with friends before class starts. Yet, she found only one person there: a boy standing with his back facing her. The boy giggled when he heard that she has entered, and folded his hands behind his back, waiting patiently for her to approach him. Rin, hesitating slightly, headed in his direction. Her rubber sneakers didn't make a sound when she toddled slowly on the clean floor. The girl stopped right behind the boy, and held out her hand, to grab his, and turn him around. The break ended with the ring of a bell, and Rin sighed, not satisfied with her unfinished fantasy. She often daydreamed, considering her life to be absolutely uninteresting. Only in dreams was she able to create a world in which she wanted to live. Rin jumped off the tree, and started unwillingly back toward the school building.

The last class of the day, meaning P.E., began in the usual way: Rin changed in the locker room, and went by herself down the stairs, into the gym. As she entered, one of the girls "accidentally" threw a basketball at her. Rin caught the ball, before it managed to hit her head. True, Rin was a big oaf, but even she knew how to catch a ball heading at her face, after so many failing attempts to do so. The smile disappeared off the culprit's face, and the girl turned around without a word, searching for a different ball. Rin sighed and walked over to the baskets, playing by herself for the next half an hour.

After some time, Rin realized that something wasn't right. Nobody ever bothered talking to her, even the coach paid no attention to her. However this time, shooting another basket, Rin felt awkward. She had a weird feeling that someone was watching her. Not wanting to look anyone in the eyes, the girl turned her head slightly toward the rest of the class, at the same time dribbling with the ball back towards the basket. Nobody seemed to notice her, when suddenly her eyes landed on something she didn't expect at all: a boy she never saw before entered the room, led by no other but the principal herself, Rin's mom. The kid looked around the room, and nodded, while the woman explained something to him. After a moment the coach joined them, and they talked together, probably about the students, since he constantly pointed people out. It seemed that he was complimenting them, because the boy listened to him attentively with a big smile on his face, still nodding. Rin tilted her head a bit, observing the boy in detail. He looked... maybe not familiar, but Rin felt like she had thought about this before: who was he? She shivered, when the boy glanced at her.

Red from embarrassment that she looked at him, Rin quickly turned away. She had the impression that he stood there for a couple more minutes, listening to the coach's monologue, and glancing at her every instant, but she didn't have enough courage to look at him again.

After gym (which, by the way, often looked like this: the class played together, while she stood on the side; the teacher never had anything against this set up) Rin quickly changed back into long pants. Lucky, that the school didn't require students to wear uniforms. Actually, the uniforms of Hanabira Koukou were so expensive, that only the richest could afford them. Rin was one of those people, but nothing in the world could make her wear a skirt in front of the class. At him, no problem. In school though, she faced such jerks every day, that she decided not to risk it. She didn't want to hear any comments about her legs.

Rin returned home three hours later than usually, because she was so deep in thought, that she forgot about the dangers of students from class 1D. The class was full of the worst kids Rin has ever met, so naturally when she passed their room (most students stayed after school for detention), they started baring their teeth at her, like some cannibals. This of course was not a problem, but for some reason, Rin was so pissed (probably at herself, for allowing herself to let a tear or two slip) that she decided not to let them act like idiots. She stood in front of their classroom door, gave each of them her best murderous look, then stuck out her tongue and yelled:  
>"All idiots, this way please!"<p>

Of course, being the idiots they were, the whole gang of boys, as well as girls, threw themselves after her, growling in anger, and yelling the ugliest insults Rin could only imagine. She ran through the hallways, with the entire class on her tail. Some teachers she passed would glance at her momentarily, as if to make sure that it was only Rin running away from a group of teenage murderers, and they didn't actually miss a fire alarm or something. After some time though, taking flight stopped amusing her, but the kids didn't get bored yet; they slowed down a bit, but continued following her, ready to rip her to pieces. Careful not to let panic take over, Rin focused on running away safely. Somewhere here, there must be a place where they wouldn't find her... Rin was a good runner, and with a little speed-up, she could lose them. The problem was that they would continue searching for her until they got bored, even if she did disappear. And so hiding was unavoidable in this situation. Rin sped up a bit, looking around. There were plenty of rooms that were never used by anyone. Unfortunately, because of this exact reason, it would be easy to find her, so she went on running, until her legs took her into the school yard. The whole gang of delinquents followed her out.

_Think, Rin, think. Where can you hide?_

Places such as bushed or her lovely Sakura weren't priorities on her list of hiding places. After all, it had to be a place from which she would be able to run as easily, in case they did find her. The surroundings didn't look too good. What was worse, the group of students started catching up with her, with dangerous speed. Not seeing a different option, Rin turned right behind a building, and climbed a ladder up onto the school roof. There were garbage cans next to the ladder. Taking it off her head, Rin dropped her beloved bow down onto one of the open, overflowing trash cans. With a bit of luck, the crazies will think, that that was where she was hiding and, too disgusted to look through the garbage, will return to class, leaving her alone. Rin didn't dare watch them from the top, in case they noticed her. Instead, she walked to the middle of the flat roof, where no one from the bottom would notice her. The plan seemed okay. If they realized where she was, and started climbing the ladder, Rin would run away down the ladder on the opposite side, and from there, they'd have no chance to catch up with her.

One situation she didn't predict.

The gang of idiots suddenly decided to use their rusty brains.

"Hey, Kagamine!" Someone called from the bottom. Rin closed her eyes and despite herself, started praying. _Please, please, don't let them find me here..._

"Kagamine, get down here! You can't sit there all night!"

"Yeah, your mom... I mean, the _principal_ will be worried!" Someone else yelled, pronouncing these words with obvious disgust. A bit irritated, Rin almost considered the option to get down there and beat up their ugly faces, but quickly decided that she stood no chance against the entire class. Trembling, she walked up to the ladder on the north side, which she had climbed up earlier. Half of class 1D waited for her there. She didn't have to check to know that the other half of the brats waited for her on the south side, ready to choke her. For some reason though, nobody climbed up to her. Maybe they thought this was fun.

Rin sat down on the roof, feeling the cool, autumn wind hit her face. She waited. And waited. Every once in a while, she would check if maybe the kids got bored waiting for her. Every time she approached the ladder, the students jumped up in joy, expecting her to come down to them. Each time though, they faced disappointment, which they expressed with loud "boo!'s". One thing Rin noticed easily: every time she glanced down, there were less of them. Soon, she told herself, soon they will all get tired and leave for home.

About 7:30 pm, Rin stuck her head out again, and looked at the ground from the roof. By the ladder stood only one boy, smiling in a way that sent shivers down her spine. She nervously walked up to the southern ladder, where a boy and girl waited for her. So there were three of them. Alright. It could work.

Letting out shallow breaths, Rin returned to the northern side. One kid she could take care of. To the boy's amazement, she started her way down. The guy called his friends. Well, crap. Rin hurried up, and standing a couple of rungs above the boy's head, leaped over him and landed painfully on the ground. Limping slightly, she headed for the school gate. She had to return home. This joke went on for too long, for her tastes.

But the three annoying idiots wouldn't leave her alone. Two boys and one girl still ran after her, wanting to teach her a lesson, no matter what. Honestly, maybe she deserved it? No, no, they started this! Convinced that she was doing the right thing, Rin continued her escape, this time through the streets of Yokohama. Her house wasn't too far, but she couldn't allow the idiots to find out where she lived. Knowing the amount of free time they spent on torturing kids, they surely would find a moment to ruin her life every time she would leave the house.

So she ran, turning involuntarily into the street she lived on. She couldn't stop in front of her house, though, so she prepared herself to pass it and keep running. In front of a house right next to her own, stood a boy with bright yellow hair, similar to hers. He held a garden hose in his hands, with which he watered the grass. Hearing the murderous yells of the three kids, he turned his head in their direction. Rin met his gaze, and swallowed hard. The setting sun reflected in his light blue eyes. They were the same eyes that watched her during P.E. class.

The boy seemed surprised at this sight. Well, who wouldn't be! Rin, red-faced from exhaustion as well as shame, pulled her eyes away from his face with difficulty, which made her blush even more. Running in his direction, she glanced at his delicate hands, gripping the hose handle. In one moment, she realized though that one of those hands let go of the handle, and pointed with a finger at the side entrance next to his house, which led to his back yard. Rin moved her gaze back to his face, and some kind of understanding passed between them: or actually, Rin had hoped it was some sort of an understanding, because she really didn't want to do something stupid again.

The boy's house was the last one on the block, so Rin quickly turned right, then again, into the alley behind his house. Before she disappeared in the shadows, with the corner of her eye, she noticed the blond boy jump in front of her pursuers and spray them with water, stopping them for a couple of seconds. That's how much time Rin had to hop over the back gate and into the boy's yard. She immediately hid behind the garage, and listened to the group of chasers pass the yard and continue quickly down the alley, swearing at the blonde. Rin took a deep breath and stood up slowly. The boy, which a moment ago practically saved her life, was already walking towards her.


	2. Chapter 2

_Author's note:_

_Thanks for the reviews :D_

_This is the second intro chapter, and the big plot-based story shall start in the next one =P_

_I have everything planned out, although usually I change things in the middle of the story, so I don't know what will happen XD_

_And for the record, yes, Len was watering the grass in the evening. I was taught to do that since there is no scorching sun to boil the water and kill the plants :)_

Chapter 2: The cart of destruction

The boy walked up to Rin with his lips twisted in a vague smile. His clothes were wet, and only then did it hit her that the trio must have fought back against him- it made her feel extremely guilty. With a trembling hand, she automatically began playing with her hair.

"You ok?" the kid asked simply, as if she was the one who just fought of a bunch of bullies.

"Huh? Yeah, yeah, of course... uh... sorry about this..." Suddenly a quiet thought nagged at her brain, which over several seconds erupted into alarms of panic. He stood up to them, for her. Now she wasn't the only one they were after.

"Hontou ni gomennasai," she bowed down as low as she could. The boy laughed quietly.

"No biggie," he said.

"Yes, biggie. You do realize they will want revenge on you, right? That Ritsu, and his pals... they will do whatever it takes to humiliate you. Or worse, beat you to pulp."

He twitched slightly at the word pulp, but quickly regained his cool.

"Huh, I think I can handle him..."

"A senior? No chance. The only reason you're still alive was because they were after me. If... if they give you any trouble, you should tell the principal. These idiots should have been kicked out a long time ago..."

He nodded.

"How come you never said anything? The principal seems like a responsible lady, I'm sure she'd take care of it."

Rin hesitated.

"It's a long sto... no, it doesn't really matter. Forget it," she tried to smile. Then, she nodded a goodbye at him, and left. The boy looked like he wanted to say something else, but she didn't wait for him, and he did not stop her. Instead, he let her leave, frowning at her reaction.

"Thanks, man, I'll see you tomorrow," Rin flashed a smile at the blue-haired guy. He scowled.

"Wait, you need a ride tomorrow too?"

"Yeah, but not to school. I'm not _that_ lazy. Still, if you could take me to work after class tomorrow..."

"You mean..." his eyes grew large. "You still work there?"

Rin rolled her eyes.

"I don't get kicked out of _every _job I take. Even I have some limits to my failures, Kaito."

"Riiiight..."

"I'd be really grateful," she added, getting a bit irritated. It was his idea to become her driver in the first place...

"Grateful enough to take me out for some ice cream?" he asked hopefully.

"Dude, that sounds like a date."

"Shut up, I just want the damn ice cream, kid!"

Rin laughed wholeheartedly. Yep, even this early in the morning, there was only one thing on his mind.

"Sure, ok. I'll buy you ice cream afterwards."

"But if you still want a da-"

"Bye, Kaito!" she interrupted with a laugh, and left. He waved through the window and drove away.

School started as usually this Tuesday. Rin entered the room 1A, followed by the glares of hateful classmates, except for a couple, who didn't pay attention to her at all. She headed for her desk by the window... to find that it was already taken.

And sitting in it was a blond kid with calm, sky-blue eyes.

"Good morning, Rin-san," he greeted her with a smile. Her jaw dropped. Not only because he knew her somehow, but his look was rather... mesmerizing.

"Hey... why are you in my seat?"

His smile faded immediately.

"Huh? I was told this seat wasn't taken..."

"Len-kun wanted a seat by the window," one of the girls in the class explained.

"Yes, Len-san kindly asked us for a free seat, and we directed him to one."

"But that's _my _seat," Rin protested. She loved this spot. It looked out straight onto her beautiful Sakura. Even if the tree wasn't actually white-and-pink in the fall, she always pretended like it was, and imagined herself living in it. It was a great time-killer during class.

"Oh, sorry. We forgot about your existence," the girls laughed.

"And Kagamine-kun deserves a nice seat much more than you, Rin," one of the boys scoffed.

Everyone nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, Rin, why are you still here?"

Ignoring their taunts, Rin turned to the confused Len.

"Kagamine? Kagamine Len-san? So your name is the same as mine..."

"Yeah, coincidence, huh... um, Rin-san, I am really sorry about this..."

Rin shrugged, pretending to be indifferent, although she was close to kicking something.

"It's just a seat. I'll take one..." she looked around. There were no open desks, although she could have sworn there were always some free ones in the back of the classroom, for the years she has spent in this school (The Hanabira Koukou was actually a program that connected both middle school [Chuugaku] and high school [Koukou] together, set in two different buildings near each other, but under the same name. Rin attended the school through 7th, 8th, and 9th grade, and now 10th as well).

"What's the problem, Rin? No seats available? Looks like you're taking the floor!"

"Everyone shut up!"

The last statement came from both Len (to the students' surprise) and Yamato-sensei, who just entered the room.

"Kagamine Len-san, I see you have made yourself comfortable already. Very well. Welcome to Japanese class."

Len nodded, still looking at Rin with a worried look on his face. But Yamato-sensei ignored the girl and proceeded with class preparations.

"Sensei," Rin called out, irritated. He looked up at her, confused. "I don't have a seat."

Yamato-sensei looked around, and seemed to have noticed the problem.

"Uh, yes... where did all our extra desks go... well, until we figure that out, I suppose you'll have to share a desk with Kagamine-kun."

Groans erupted across the room (from the girls) and several snickers, too (from the boys). Rin, however, was the most annoyed. She didn't mind Len's company, but sharing a desk was... well, bothersome. She liked leaning on the windowsill and looking out the window while the teachers droned on and on about who knows what. Len was going to stand in the way of that.

"Here, take my chair for the meantime, and use this desk," Yamato-sensei brought his seat over to Len's desk, and let Rin take her place. "Now, class..."

Japanese passed in silence. Len wasn't very talkative in the class, which helped Rin relax. She kept glancing at his peaceful, blue eyes, although above them, the eyebrows were still a bit tensed, and she had a feeling it was because he felt guilty of stealing her seat. Well, whatever. She'd have to get over it. And when Yamato-sensei brings another desk, maybe the new student will have enough common sense to move there instead, and return her lovely spot.

Before she knew it, it was time for science class. The teacher for this subject, Rikao-sensei, was a complete psycho. She came to the classroom, skipping, singing a random chemistry song. The class grinned as their favorite, insane instructor stood in front of them, explaining the day's activity, while Rin scowled in her seat, closing her eyes in displeasure. Science meant experimenting, and Rin experimenting meant failure. As if that wasn't bad enough, from now on it also meant failure in front of the already popular Kagamine Len. Speaking of which...

"I will need someone to bring in the equipment... I left the cart in the office nextdoor. Kagamine-san, could you get it for us?"

Both Rin and Len picked up their heads, Len with a big, kind smile on his lips, Rin gaping at the teacher in disbelief. There's not way she called on her for help, right? She must have been talking to the new guy, right?

"Kagamine-kun, please go ahead. And pick a partner to help you, there's a lot to bring for today's lab."

Rin sighed, and let her head drop again. Of course, Kagamine-_kun _was Len. How could she even think she'd be called on? What bothered her even more was that she wasn't even sure whether she was disappointed or relieved: she wanted to be of some use once in a while, but she was convinced that she would fail at a task even that simple.

"A partner? Would Rin-san do the honors?" he flashed his teeth at Rin, and held out his hand.

The _honors_? Rin scoffed. Did this boy think he was some kind of prince or something? The way he phrased that sentence made it seem like she should be more than happy to accompany him to the office, in search of beakers, rubber gloves, and broken, plastic goggles. Fortunately, the class saved her the trouble of answering that question.

"Kagamine-kun, I'll help you! We'll bring the stuff here fast and can start the lesson!"

"Yes, pick anyone but Rin, please! We don't want any more accidents..."

Rin almost expected the sad look of concern to return to Len's eyes, but instead they remained in their happy state, sparkling like water reflecting warm sunrays off of its surface.

"But I'd really like it to be Rin-san to join me. Let's go!" he grabbed her arm, and pulled her down the row of desks, and out of the classroom. Before they disappeared behind the door, Rin caught a glimpse of Rikao-sensei's face: her face twitched into a smile, when she watched them leave. Although Rin always had trouble understanding this teacher, she felt like this time she and Rikao-sensei had something in common: they both had an urging sensation like Kagamine Len was to make some changes in Rin's life.

And vice versa.

I mean, did Len ever consider the fact that one day he might be running down a school hallway, chasing after an out-of-control cart, steered by a teenage girl, who was screaming her heart out, dropping and breaking the beakers one-by-one. To make things worse, oranges kept rolling out of her pickets, which didn't make Len's attempt to catch her any easier, as he ended up tripping over them. Yes, the scene sure did look interesting to the students that curiously stuck their heads out through the classroom doors and windows, but both Rin and Len were both terrified throughout the entire experience.

For the record, they both survived this incident.

Len finally caught a hold of the cart's handle and gripped it as tightly as he could, continuing to run after it, in order to bring it to a slow stop. Rin had tears in her eyes, and was breathing as heavily as he was, although she had a ride while he had to dash after her by foot. Len bent in half, trying to catch a breath, while she tumbled off of the cart, and onto some broken glass, scraping her knee, as she landed on all fours.

"Rin, careful!" Len picked her up by the elbow, and led her out of the mess zone. The hallways were now filled with students and teachers, muttering to each other in disbelief. Between the line of people, a path of ruined equipment and squashed (by Len's feet) oranges led to the two most undortunate kids ever. They prepared for the worst.

Rin felt horrible, as you can imagine. This was all her fault, too. The idea seemed simple enough when she was too distracted to think rationally back at the office: and no, please don't imagine that she just had a sudden urge to take a ride on the equipment cart. The fact was, the office was filled with Rikao-sensei's junk, and as Rin and Len went on piling it all onto the shelves, Rin noticed something hanging high on the wall: a poster covered in pictures and essays, which looked strangely familiar to Rin.

Her heart stopped beating for a moment. If she was correct... no, it couldn't be, could it? Rikao-sensei never paid any attention to her, so why would she keep Rin's old science project? Sure, Rin got 150% on that assignment (back in the day, she actually tried hard to get good grades), but could it have influenced the crazy science teacher to keep the project for three years? She had to make sure she wasn't mistaken. And so, our genius Rin decided to climb the closest thing to her (aside from Len, because it might have been considered inappropriate to climb onto him) and try to reach the poster. She almost succeeded, too. Before the cart began rolling across the room and out into the hallway, Rin managed to catch a glimpse of the name in the corner of the poster: _Kagamine Rin_. With her mouth open in shock, she didn't realize what was happening until she was going at full speed, down the corridor, and Len, whose back was turned to her, realized in the last second where his partner had disappeared.

And the rest you know.

Anyway, in a minute, Rikao-sensei was standing by Rin and Len's side, choking at the sight of all her equipment in pieces. The entire class followed them out and glared at them (actually forget that, they glared at _Rin_) in disgust. Rin's head dropped, and she bit back more tears, although the embarrassment and the cuts on her knee were enough to make her wail. She wasn't going to show her weakness again. No more humiliation.

"Rikao-sensei, I am so sorry..." she whispered. "I will clean this up right away, and pay for the damage..."

"Don't you mean your mom will pay for the damage?" someone from the crowd called out. Murmurs of agreement spread through the hallway.

"Probably, but I'll return her the money..." Rin promised desperately.

"Yeah, right! What will you do, try to get a job? Like you could pull it off..."

"I already have a job!" Rin cried out. "I'll take care of this, so please, if you could just give me time and go back to the class.."

"Don't order us around, kid!"

"Yeah, look at what kind of trouble you cause!"

"Rikao-sensei," Len called out louder than anybody, even though the teacher was standing right next to him.

"Y-yes, Kagamine-kun?"

"We will clean up this mess. However, first things first. Please notice that Rin-san is injured..."  
>"Ah, yes, of course. Safety first. Uh... Kagamine-kun, would you kindly lead Kagamine-san to the nurse's office?"<p>

Len nodded and put Rin's arm around him to help her walk, but she moved slightly away from him. She wasn't badly hurt, she wasn't even bleeding anymore. She'd rather stay and clean this up right away, try to make things right... but Len wouldn't let her resist. He pulled her down the hallway. Of course in the end, Rin was the one leading, since he didn't even know where the nurse's office was. Rin walked in the front, limping a bit, at the thought of which her pain from yesterday's bully-chase returned to her legs. Crap, crap, crap... this was the most rotten situation she had gotten into in months.

The nurse put a bandage around Rin's knee, then left the room indifferently, leaving Len and Rin alone.

As if finally letting out everything he's been holding in, Len burst out with laughter.

Rin turned pink, from ear to ear.

"W-what's your problem?" she muttered.

"Sorry..." Len tried catching a breath, and wiped tears out of his eyes. "I can't believe you... You rode a cart... d-down the hallway!" And he continued laughing. Rin didn't find it particularly funny, especially considering the mess she left behind, but she couldn't help but smile when she saw how bright Len's eyes shone at the moment.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. Imma go bring the school back to its original state, while you sit here laughing your insides out, you doofus."

"No no, I'll help you," Len said, following her out, still smiling like crazy. Rin shook her head and sighed. What a complete weirdo.

Half and hour later, when everyone was back in the classroom, trying to focus on the lecture (Rikao-sensei had to cancel the lab idea nd replace it with a long speech on acids and bases, since the necessary lab equipment was in shards – the class promised to shatter Rin to shards after the lesson was over), Rin practically fell asleep with her head on the desk. She slept through all of math class, and social science. Finally, it was lunch time, and Len decided to shake Rin back to reality. She picked up her head, drool coming out of her mouth, and when she looked down, all of it landed on the desk. Her eyes growing, she dropped back down onto the desk to cover it up, hoping nobody saw. Len kindly stuck a tissue between her arms and head, and she quickly wiped the drool.

Ugh, it would have been better if he just ignored the fact the he saw anything. Turning red, Rin murmured a thanks and reached for her backpack, in search of her bentou. How many more times would she have to embarrass herself in front of Len?

Oh, just a couple more. After all, the day is half-over, Rin.

Len tried his best to keep a conversation going between the two of them, but Rin was just so out of it, she had no intention of talking back to him. She ate in silence, her face red in frustration, eyes threatening to close again at any moment. She tried to remember her dream, but something stopped her. She knew there was a long corridor, and at the end, someone waited for her, desperately hanging on to his life, hoping that she'd be able to save him. But, of course, she failed. Well, even if she wasn't rudely interrupted by Len, she probably would have failed at saving the boy.

The thought nagged at her for the next couple of hours.

The final classes were English (during which the entire class found out that the great Len sucks at foreign languages), music (Rin, like always stayed quiet, and surprisingly Len also held back his voice in this one, to Kiyoteru-sensei's disappointment), and gym (because she ignored him, Len ditched Rin and played with the rest of the class, while she went on shooting hoops in the corner by herself.

Len did, however, catch Rin after class, and tell her that he needs to go speak to Kiyoteru-sensei for a moment, but he wants to go home with her, so she should wait for him by the Sakura tree in the school yard. Wanting nothing more than to simply go home, drink some cocoa, eat oranges, and fall slowly to sleep, Rin sat under her lovely castle. Everyone that passed it saw a bare tree, but Rin knew that it was actually covered in white-and-pink flowers all over, the petals of which dropped silently on her face every time the breeze blew slightly stronger, moving the Sakura's branches back and forth, swaying in peace...

She woke up half an hour later. Len was late. VERY late. Now really angry, Rin stood up, dusted off her pants and headed home. She wasn't going to wait for him all day, she had things to do as well. Why did she even wait in the first place? Their houses were only 2 miles away from the school, there's no way he'd get lost. The suburbs of Yokohama weren't as frightening as downtown. He'd be fine.

She was almost home, walking along the sidewalk, singing to herself – once she got tired of swearing her ass off at Len – when she heard the boy's voice call her from behind. He was running at her at full speed, and didn't manage to stop on time, passing right next to her, before turning back excitedly to face her.

"Rin!"

"Stop calling my name, you jerk," she snapped. Whatever happened to her calm personality?

"Huh? Oh, sorry, sorry, I got distracted with something."

"Yeah, clearly. Next time I'm not waiting for you."

"Hey, wait, I said I was sorry! Besides, you'll change your mind when you see what I found!"

"I don't care," she continued walking home, now only a block away.

"Yes you dooooo," he covered her eyes with something from behind. Rin felt soft, velvet fabric tickle her skin, and it would have been a pleasant touch, if it wasn't for the smell. It reeked of rotten lunch and old gym uniforms. She ripped it out of Len's hands, and stared at it in disbelief.

"It's... my bow."

"I saw some kid from 1D holding it and retrieved it for you. You can wash it, and it will still be wearable, right?"

Rin didn't quite know what to say. She wanted to thank him with all her heart, of course, but wasn't sure how. And why did he go through all this trouble...

"How did you even know this was mine?" she asked, clutching the ribbon to her chest. It was something she has treasured for years, ever since her old friend, Ruko, gave it to her, before moving away.

"I remember you wore it in gym, that day I saw you first," Len answered happily. He was clearly very proud of himself.

"You paid a lot of attention to me, didn't you? To notice such detail..." Rin teased. Suddenly, Len blushed a horrible (and yet adorable) red and looked at his feet.

"N-no... I mean, the thing was huge, bobbing up and down on top of your head! Hard not to notice..."

Rin has never seen him so embarrassed and almost felt sorry for him. She should have also punched him for the comment, but decided to let it slide.

"But Len... how'd you get it back? If a guy from 1D had it, he wouldn't have let it go this easily..."

His smile returned as fast as it disappeared.

"Don't you worry about that, buddy! I took care of it!"

"But how?"

"I'll leave that to your imagination," he winked. Rin scowled at his attempt to look cute (successful attempt, although she wouldn't dare admit it), and turned around. They walked back home together.

From that day on, they became really close friends... Rin thought that things couldn't get any better. Her life was completely different with Len around, and slowly, step by step, she was gaining some of her old confidence back.

There were however, many more obstacles on the path to growing up, awaiting the day to stand in her way...


	3. Chapter 3

As unbelievable as it was, Rin had to face the facts and finally admit it: she had found someone just like her. It was quite an incredible discovery, but there he was, the boy in light-colored hair and pretty blue eyes... he didn't talk much. In fact, Rin has never heard him speak before... oh, this is where I threw you off, huh? Did you think I was talking about Len? Hehe, no, silly, I meant the child whose existence has been entirely ignored by anybody in the school, for as long as Rin has attended Hanabira Koukou.

I was talking about Utatane Piko.

His thin, silver hair dropped delicately on his round cheeks, and his calm, distant eyes sparkled slightly in the light. Rin observed him during class, instead of paying attention to the teacher (that's new ← sarcasm). How is it, that she has never noticed him in class before? When the teachers took roll, the boy picked up his hand shyly, when the name Utatane Piko was called. Utatane Piko! Yes, she definitely heard that name before, he must have been in the class this whole time. But she failed to notice. How did she even come to notice him now? Nothing changed in the class... oh wait. Something did change. Her seat was taken and Rin had trouble looking out the window over Kagamine Len's head. Because of this, she was forced to look somewhere else, and when she starts looking around the classroom in boredom, this is what happens. She finds people she didn't think existed. Yay.

So who was this kid, anyway? Watching him throughout the day, she realized that he always worked by himself. Even if that meant that someone in the class would end up without a partner, he silently refused to be a part of a group. Rin looked back at two weeks ago, when she was exactly the same. Nobody asked to be her partner. And it was ok, because they had an excuse, like "I already have a partner". The class was supposedly made up of 29 students. That is what Rin thought. It was actually 30, since the mysterious Piko never showed himself willingly, hiding in a corner. Now that Len joined the class, there were 31, and Rin finally had someone to work with, but poor Piko... he still was all alone. Rin felt a pinching in her chest. Piko automatically gained her respect, and her sympathy. How lonely he must be without any friends in the class...

When the final bell rang, boys headed for their gym locker room, while Rin speed-changed in the girls' one. Usually when she got out, Len would already be waiting for her outside the door, but this time, she was first. She stood outside the boys' room, shifting impatiently from one foot to another. If Len came out first, she'd force him to wait with her and then try to talk to Piko. If Piko was first, she'd text Len with an apology and leave with Piko.

There was no way she'd let poor Piko go. He deserved a friend.

"No," Piko whispered, and kept walking, without looking back at her.

"But... aren't you kind of bored, all by yourself?" Rin insisted. Len sighed and followed them. Rin was so stubborn. She really wanted to befriend this kid, to make him their classwork partner, to talk to him. But Len has been watching Piko for some time as well. He never talked to him, but one glance was enough for Len to realize that Piko did not wish to be talked to. He was just that kind of person, and Rin had to accept it. But she couldn't. Not after she spent months pretending she was just like Piko, indifferent, and unreachable, when in reality she wished someone noticed her.

"I am not bored," Piko declared in a monotonous tone.

"Well, don't you wanna share your interests with us? Come on, don't sit by yourself. We can be friends."

"I do not care."

"Awesome! If you're so indifferent about this, then it's ok for us to bug you, right?" Rin smiled, stepping in front of Piko. Piko's eyes narrowed, scrutinizing Rin's face. Rin could almost feel Piko attempting to read her mind. Why was she bothering him? Him, of all people...

"We can really be close friends. We're similar, you know," Rin told him.

Silent, Piko stepped past her, and walked home without looking back at her. Rin stared at his back until he disappeared. So what did this mean? Was it a "leave me alone, I'm a busy person" or a "ok fine, whatever you say, just don't eat me" or maybe even a "I can't admit it, but I want to be your friend, so please pick me up tomorrow morning"?

Shaking her head in confusion, Rin headed back home.

"Hey Len, you want a ride to school tomorrow?" she asked before separating with her buddy.

Len's eye twitched.

"Rin... we live only a couple blocks from the school..."

"So? You a fan of walking?"

"You can't drive."

"Nope, but I can ask my friend to drive us, he loves doing that. He'll pick us up tomorrow at 7:00 in a..."

"...an ice cream truck? I thought you said he owns a Ford Mustang." Len snickered as the bright pink-and-yellow van stopped in front of his house. The driver, a blue-haired guy in his 20s waved from the front seat and played Scott Joplin's "The Entertainer" through the gigantic speakers on top of the van, as if to prove that he really was transporting ice cream.

"Shut it off before the neighborhood kids gather!" Rin ordered, irritated.

"Don't pay attention to her, Len," Kaito said dreamily. "She's been like this ever since I called her this morning, saying that my Mustang is getting fixed up..."

"How did you even get into the accident?" Rin whined.

"I was eating ice cream and..."

"Of course. Everything's clear now."

"Anyway," Kaito waved his hand impatiently. "Get in, guys, we don't wanna be late for school!"

Rin looked at Len apologetically, but he was laughing his ass off.

"Hey, it's not often we get to arrive in school in style! Let's go, Rinny!"

If Rin ever worried about not being noticed in school (which, as we know, she did), she could forget about that now. Kaito couldn't help but play the ice cream truck song on full volume as he parked in the school lot. A whole bunch of kids gathered around the truck, begging for ice cream, and under normal circumstances, he'd probably share his treasures with the kids, but because of the crowd, Rin and Len had trouble coming out of the car. So instead, he yelled,

"Beat it brats, or I'll smear your little faces with ice cream!"

Naturally, the kids couldn't hope for more, so this didn't exactly help. That is when operation Carry Rin and Len Safely Out of the Van began.

Teto watched as the blue-haired man karate-chopped a bunch of kids, letting the two blondes out of the car. After that, he continued scaring students off while Rin and Len proceeded with their dangerous escape, stepping on feet, smacking noses, and grinning insanely.  
>Right outside the crowd of psychotic ice cream maniacs, a boy waited for the two of them. He stood shyly off to the side, shifting from one foot to the other, glancing at the Kagamines nervously through his hair. Teto wouldn't have even noticed him if it wasn't for Rin's huge smile when the pair finally got out of the death zone. She waved to him happily, and stepped energetically in his direction. Teto despised that smile of hers. She hated Rin's white teeth, her straight hair, the pretty bow, and her acceptance by all teachers even though she doesn't do anything. If Teto was to not pay attention in class, and just fool around all day, she'd... well, she'd be exactly where she is, class 1D, for the trouble-causing kids. She watched Rin have a quick conversation with the boy, Len listening intently behind her. The boy murmured something to his feet, and Rin's face lit up even more brightly. Len looked a bit uncertain, but shrugged it off and followed the other two into the school building. Teto sat on the roof for another twenty minutes before the ice cream truck song came back to life. The driver finally managed to fend off the students, and was on his way out of the parking lot. This brought Teto back to reality. This might be her only chance to find something out. She left her binoculars on the roof and slid down the ladder, jumping off at the height of about 10 feet. Then, she dashed after the van, ignoring the fact that she was being watched by the students that were now heading towards the school. She caught up with the pink-and-yellow van and began banging her hands on the doors, wanting him to stop. But when the blue-haired driver noticed her, his eyes only grew in panic, and he shouted, "No! I'm not giving out any more of my babies for free! You want an ice cream cone, you go ask your mommy for cash, kid!"<br>This pissed Teto off. Excuse me? What made him think she had to ask her mom for money? She had a job! Besides, she couldn't care less about the ice cream. Before he managed to speed up, the drill-haired girl jumped and slid the top part of her body through the open window, right into Kaito's lap.  
>"What the hell are you doing?" he yelled, and stopped the van.<br>Well, the idea she had earlier now popped like a balloon. She couldn't possibly ask him in a sweet voice who he was, claiming she was Rin's good friend. Not after attacking him like this.  
>"Sorry... I really wanted to talk to you," she explained. The man stared at her expectantly for a moment, but as she said nothing, he invited her to sit down next to him.<br>"You like strawberry flavor?"

Piko was officially a friend. Yeah, he didn't talk much at first. He'd just kind of drag his body along, agreeing with everything Rin and Len told him. Especially Rin. She seemed like a very honest, trustworthy person. So when she claimed he had cool hair? He seemed to consider that idea. When she told him a story about how she made it for a month eating only oranges? He congratulated her. When she said they were gonna be good friends? Well, Piko didn't want to admit it at first, but maybe he'd get used to it eventually. Len could see easily that Piko was fascinated with Rin's voice. Whenever she spoke, he'd listen intently, and he looked like he wanted to believe her every word. Len didn't speak all that much. Well, he still butted in every once in a while, since he didn't like the idea of them bonding too much, but he didn't seem to have too much in common with Piko. In fact, he was finding out more and more things about Rin that he never knew. Just like the silver-haired boy, she loved reading books about dragons. Len never knew that. Also, she had a cat. He's been to her house thousands of times, but never saw a cat or proof of one, nor did she ever mention it. At the end of their before-class conversation, Len felt like he was talking to a totally new person. The Rin around Piko was a different Rin. It wasn't... _his_ Rin. He was being left out and it irritated him.  
>During class, Rin would automatically ask Piko to partner with her and Len. The teacher, naturally, didn't bother questioning her, even if they clearly said to work alone or in <em>pairs<em>. Len went along with it, smiling at Piko encouragingly, and scowling whenever his head was too low for anyone to notice. He liked Piko. He had a nice face, a kind voice, he was smart, and understood all of Rin's jokes. But how could he accept him if he was taking Rin away?  
>What Len didn't know, was that there were more than 3 people involved in this little conflict. Actually, things were going to get <em>very<em> complicated.

Rin couldn't stop smiling. She had told Kaito earlier to pick her up after school as well, but when she got out of gym, she called him with a "Never mind, I'll walk". After explaining that this decision was in no way influenced by his evident failure this morning (some students still walked around the school with ice cream on their clothes), she hung up and caught up with Len and Piko. They would go to the park after school and hang out for a while.  
>"...And then she just jumps out the window!" Rin finished the story.<br>"You seemed to have really cool friends," Piko concluded with a tiny smile. He still didn't dare look her straight in the eyes, and hid behind his hair, but Rin didn't mind.  
>"Yeah, Ruko was epic. I don't hang out with many people anymore, though. It's mostly Len," she patted (or rather, slapped) Len's back, which made him jump, but he smiled.<br>"What about that guy in the morning?"  
>"Oh, Kaito? He's an old... nanny of mine, I guess. My dad's abroad all the time, and my mom was always the kind to take care of other people's kids, rather than her own. Pffft, teachers," she rolled her eyes. "So now that I'm grown up, he serves more as a driver, since he still lives across the street. Always has, always will. As long as we feed him ice cream on weekends."<br>"How about any female friends?" Piko asked.  
>It was a very innocent question. He didn't sound interested or anything. He was just curious about whom she's around. But as much as Rin wanted a girl to hang out with, she just didn't get along with any girls in the neighborhood.<br>"Uh... temporarily none, I guess."  
>This made all three of them shut up until they reached the park.<p>

Teto made herself comfy behind the tree, and observed. Kaito had told her he'd be picking up Rin after school, and Teto made plans to stalk her, but a lot has changed since morning. She overheard Rin talking on the phone with Kaito, saying she'd be going to this park, so Teto ran all the way here, to find a hiding place. And yes, here they were. Rin, Len, and Piko have arrived at the park and immediately headed for the swings - Rin, with her skipping, Len jogging behind her with a smile and Piko speed-walking in the back. Teto glued her face to the binoculars, and watched. How is Rin, someone so unpopular in and outside of school, suddenly be surrounded by boys. The new kid shows up, and they become best buddies right away. Then, she shows up in school noticed, and her chauffeur is a handsome 20-year-old guy. Finally, when things couldn't get weirder, she befriends a cute little boy that Teto never even knew existed. As much as she hated her, Teto had to face the facts and admit it: Rin was some kind of witch. She knew how to get boys to like her, if she really wanted them to. There was no other explanation. And so, Teto had to go into action.

When Len accidentally made him fall off the swing, Piko gave up on swinging and decided to push the other two. Rin rejected his proposition, saying that all the fun in swinging is moving your legs to make the swing move, but Len was more than happy to let Piko push him. Piko gnawed on the idea of pushing him extra hard and proving that it really does hurt when you fall off the swing at three meters in height, but in the end he gave it up, seeing how much fun Len was having. Also, he thought Rin might get mad. And since he finally, for the first time, made... f... friends... he should treasure them as much as possible.  
>Things seemed great. They made plans to sit down on a bench and do some homework later. Piko was smiling more and more. And it has only been one, short day. How much energy the two must have put in making him feel welcome... there was just something about them that he couldn't push away. His mood improved greatly, until a short, red-headed girl showed up in front of them.<br>Oh no, not her.  
>They could have been approached by anyone. He would have smiled politely, maybe even said something. But if there was anyone he could not bring himself to talk to, it was Kasane Teto. Teto was a delicately-built girl, with a tiny body, tiny hands and feet, but huge eyes, and an extremely accurate fist. She was one of the students in class 1D. She was most definitely not the most scary, but she had the most guts. Therefore, she was the one to always stand alongside Namine Ritsu, the class leader and the biggest bully that ever stepped into Hanabira Koukou. Ritsu was the boss, and Teto was his sidekick. And the last thing Piko could bring himself to do was to talk to Kasane Teto.<br>As the girl pulled Rin aside, Len straightened up and watched them carfully. Piko could see that he was worried about Rin, probably knowing that Teto was a bully. Piko was also a bit nervous. He didn't want anything to happen to Rin. Unfortunately, there was another part of him, a much stronger part, which dominated his muscles. They began moving by themselves, starting out as a slow step back, and growing into a full-speed run.  
>The little coward found his moment to escape.<p>

"She _what_?" Len's jaw dropped when Rin finished explaining. They were sitting in Rin's bedroom, finishing math homework. They were going to do it in the park, but since Piko disappeared, there was no more need to stay there. Teto left shortly after the conversation they had, and the two of them headed home.  
>"You heard me," Rin repeated. "She asked me for boy advice."<br>Len fell silent for about ten seconds, ten long seconds, during which Rin nervously tried to focus on writing. Her hand was shaking, her mind clouded. _The volume of a cylinder... come on, Rin, remember the formula already..._  
>Finally, Len could take it no more, and burst out laughing. Rin twitched and dropped her pencil.<br>"This is not funny, Len! What do I do?"  
>"Well what did you tell her?" Len asked, wiping tears out of his eyes.<br>"She asked me for a reply tomorrow. She gave me time to think about it, so I have until tomorrow to do something."  
>"Then what's the problem?" Len leaned in to look at Rin's face. His sky-blue eyes were sparkling with amusement. Rin gulped. His eyes always looked a bit different. Sometimes they looked dark, like a storm is approaching. At other times, they were deep green, when he was thinking hard about something. Then finally, there was this beautiful, light blue, full of happiness.<br>"What do you mean?"  
>"Well, give her the advice."<br>Rin turned red and pushed Len away.  
>"I can't."<br>"Why not?"  
>She took a deep breath.<br>"..."  
>Len laughed again.<br>"Rin, it's the area of the top circle times the height..."  
>"Right," she bowed her head down and began writing frantically. "So what answer did you get?"<br>"My answer is, 'Then you have to tell her you have no advice for her'," Len rolled his eyes. "Don't change the subject."  
>"Len, I can't do that either. She'll kill me. Pulverize me. Into pulp. Or worse."<br>"What's worse than pulp?"  
>"Len, I'm gonna die tomorrow!"<br>"Ok, ok, Rin... you just have to tell her the truth then. That you're surrounded by guys by a coincidence. And it has nothing to do with your looks."  
>"You think she'll believe it?"<br>"Why not?"  
>Rin didn't know how to take this. Was Len saying that because he wanted her to feel better? Or did he think that Teto would believe that Rin's male friends have nothing to do with her being attractive because she <em>wasn't<em>? Oh this was no time to think about Len's feelings.  
>"I can't do it, Len. I can't."<br>She must have looked really scared (and she was, Teto was incredibly stubborn and simply freaky) because Len turned serious.  
>"Then we need to give her advice." <p>


End file.
